GPU upgrade for Fx 4170

Hardware GPU
#1

My friend is a little bit clueless when it comes to computers, he bought his system and was ripped off. I want to get him a good GPU upgrade.

 

Current Specs:

Fx 4170 @ 4.2Ghz

HD 6670

8Gb Ballistics sport 1600mhz

1TB

Gigabyte AM3+ Motherboard Micro ATX (Not sure of exact model)

He's playing on a 1366x768 32" LG TV (Yes, it's nasty!)

 

He needs a new graphics card, i have suggested either a 270X or a HD 7870 because both are cheap right now.

Does anyone have any ideas that won't bottleneck but will still be a long term graphics solution? He plays games like Far Cry 3, Source games, saint's row 3/4 and GTA IV. He's at 1366x768 so i think that a 270X would be great, but i want to know what you think.

 

Thanks!

#2

Yea 270X should run pretty much most games at very nice settings at 1366x768, otherwise known as "The Devils Resolution" as called by Wendell. xD

I would recommend a CPU upgrade because the lower the res the more CPU performance actually makes a difference. Albeit it is overclocked and I think it'll be running most games so well at that res it'd be fine for the most part so just see how it goes. Worst comes to worst eBay the CPU and get an FX6300 or FX8320 in the future.

#3

It's not OCed, it's a stock clock of 4.2Ghz. But thanks for the reply, i think a 270x is the way to go!

#4

Hmm guess I never payed attention to that CPU, then maybe OC it a touch? :P

#5

im surious as to how he was riiped off.... dare we ask how much he paid for that rig? =x

#6

Just over £500 for the PC, the case and PSU on their own cost £10 each! It almost exploded a couple of times.

 

 

#7

DEAR LORD!!!! i priced those parts online (adding the 20 pounds you mentioned about the case and PSU) and the total price of the build was 250 pounds!!!! =O sweet lord. even adding like 50 pounds for windows, that is still 300 vs 500+

that is crazy.....

#8

I would probably just ditch that entire computer, because those processors run hot as hell, the cores are really ineffective, and they bottleneck just about any graphics card you put in them, more so even than the k10 processors (Phenom II). You know what I would do? Because I'm really cheap, and I don't mind some pre-loving on my computer hardware? I would go on Ebay, and buy a cheap Phenom II X4, or even an X6, if you can find one cheap enough, anything higher than a 960 on the X4, anything with a T after it is even better; with the X6 you want anything higher than a 1045 to be able to clock it into the mid-3 GHz range. Buy a relatively nice motherboard for it (AM3+ is compatible, if you wanted to buy new.) You can use the existing RAM if you want. Then buy a used GPU, such as a 6950. If you can, try to find one with the stock PCB. Those are really neat, because you can usually BIOS-unlock them to a 6970, which will perform on par with a GTX 660 - GTX 660Ti, depending on the task. Plus, you can usually find one of those for about $120 on Ebay, not sure what the price is elsewhere. My build is intel-based, with that GPU, and it's a console killer, even for the upcoming ones. Not to mention, if the GPU becomes a hinderance, you can always add another later.

#9

In the end he bought a gtx660 and is now getting blue screens because he installed a cooler wrong and left one half of the CPU open to the air. I'm so done with him!!